And Other Insects
by Izreal
Summary: Shambles #2. Just who is Trafalgar Law? What goes on inside his head and why has he done what he has done? . . . Shall we find out? Pieces flying around out of order, yet parts of a cohesive whole. Newest: Sashimi {Cover Art by Me.}
1. Supernova

**Disclaimer**—One Piece and all associated characters ect belongs to Eiichiro Oda not me I just enjoy reading/watching it. Spoken dialogue belongs to him if it seems very familiar.

Not Beta'd or edited save spell checker***. Sorry about my spelling and grammar if I missed anything. Feel free to tell me _nicely_ if there is something that needs to be fixed.

Notes in General: This is the start of any wild ideas I come up with. I have a few written at the time of this posting and will add them as I get them up to date with canon and edited as much as I can manage alone.

Why Law? I like Law and he is fun to write and is a surprisingly good choice to do this sort of thing with. If you want to know why I characterized him like I did and all the explanations of his personality and reactions there of read Gnat on my profile.

Notes Specific to this Chapter:

I recently went to the planetarium with my friends and saw a presentation on black holes (BLACK HOLES: THE OTHER SIDE OF INFINITY… I think it is called if you want to see it)…this story was the result. I already knew much of the information presented but it was a nice refresher. Ironically I didn't think much about the implications of the term _Supernova_ in connection to One Piece until I saw that presentation…after the show… I just started cackling mentally and wrote this. Attribute any inaccuracies to the fact I didn't look anything up for two reasons: one I have no idea just how advanced the astronomy is in canon—I assume they could be fairly advanced considering places like Weatheria and people like Vegapunk exist; two, I didn't feel like looking a lot up for this and having to credit all the people since I would probably go overboard and force myself to do a mla works cited…

*****A super special addition:** I received a very long and very appreciated review and personal message from Kinjiru (Thank you again if you look back at this!). Inside was a list of helpful grammatical and otherwise nice concise list of errors I made. In response to the kind advice, I have fixed as many as I got suggestions for (I am a scientist first, writer second) and also fixed a few plot points. Mainly Kinjiru pointed out that the author of the astronomy book was breaking off onto tangents and the fact that a Yami Yami user was a bit of stretch. Hopefully the few extra remarks I added in will make it clearer that the user mentioned is NOT Teach and that the tangents were due to the fact that the author self-published and was an arrogant little sod (And if you fork over the cash you can publish whatever you want despite the quality or editing involved).

I am looking into Beta's now so hopefully I will find one who is willing to look over my shoulder and tell me I am breaking rules or being too oblique as usual.

* * *

Sitting at his desk, Law opened the large tome he had gotten on that last island. Minty Island had been sadly deprived of any interesting medical books but this one had caught his eye for its scholarly form though the subject matter had made him nearly put it back on the shelf. However, the fact that it looked to be a self-published tome, as evidenced by the cheep leather and messy binding was intriguing. It was only upon finding hand written star charts shoved into the pages that he bought it.

_Astrological Bodies and Their Relations by Ardolf Scorger of Asterolii Island._

It was a book entirely about stars and would have normally been of little interest to Law himself past a few minutes glace, that in addition to the rambling tangents the author would go on were off-putting. Plus the prose itself was oozing with an arrogance that he could do without subjecting himself to. However, the well-catalogued sailing that he had found inside and the occasional handwritten annotation in the book had been more than enough reason to buy it, with the pawn shop owner none the wiser to the extras contained inside. These he had given over to his navigator to see if there was any use, but the book itself he had kept to look over out of boredom and curiosity. Knowledge was a useful commodity after all, even if it wasn't readily apparent what for.

Idly, he thumbed through the pages, moderately impressed with the quantity of the illustrations. He paused as a word he had half-read registered consciously, having caught his interest and he flipped back to the entry to see why.

_Supernova._ _Used to define the extraordinarily high-energy celestial event when a star implodes upon the loss of stabilization upon energy condensation past a critical threshold. The extreme density at the star's center caused by the stars own massive size causes this implosion in the most accepted theories. This hyper-dense mass at the stars center contracts upon itself creating what is termed as a black hole…_

Law felt a slow amused smirk twist across his lips. He ran his finger along the roughly cut pages turning to the index and finding the page of the second entry.

_Black hole. Postulated to be a rip in space-time that exhibits extreme gravity that pulls all matter nearby into the event horizon toward the funnel's center, also termed a singularity. Further information is unknown and much contested. Collision and engulfment of other black holes and galaxies hypothesized but unproven conclusively._

_Rumors of the Yami Yami fruit, known to create features with similar characteristics to black holes on a much more contained scale, has seen to have a warping effect on perception of both time and space around it. This has given much possible insight into the larger and less easily observed phenomena._

_However, the user of the fruit is able to both take in and release matter, and though gravity has been noted to associated with the fruit, it seems to lack the omni-directional and overwhelming strength of a true black hole. As with all devil fruits there are analogies that can be drawn from their usage. But I urge the reader and most esteemed colleges to remember that these "devil fruits", often twist what we deem as true science in ways impossible in any other situation. A notable example of this I have witnessed first hand was the usage of the so called Zoan-type devil fruits. __Most Zoan's are noted to change mass, not just with their initial transformation into animals, but when they transform into their hybrid forms. These forms are also often larger than both human and animal form__. And further it is commonly known that many fruits have abilities that are quite…odd. I have heard of an upcoming marine that is able to quite literally WASH people of a portion of their evil. Devil fruits are frankly the bane of us TRUE scientists and therefore though should not be forgotten should not be a basis for true science._

Well _that_ was an interesting little tidbit wasn't it? And considering the newest Yonko running around possibly an invaluable find. Even if it was merely a _fragment_ of information about how the mans abilities might function—even if it was referencing someone long dead by now considering the publishing date on the book. Law hadn't _seen_ Blackbeard fighting at Marineford but had heard of the man's attacks on the other Supernova and some of his post-Shichibukai moments. To have any insight in how the dangerous mans powers worked was very valuable in this new age.

_In addition, what an interesting correlation we have here. _Law thought steeping his fingers while his elbows rested on the table.

The truly _remarkable_ thing was that _any_ star had the potential to become a supernova. And said supernova held the potential to become a _galaxy-eating_ black hole. Able to twist reality around it and manipulate other stars in its proximity to its whims, lest the hungry giant consume them. He smirk grew into a feral smile when he read that a black hole was thought to be the center of each and _every_ galaxy.

_And there are eleven rising stars the Marines have already dubbed Supernova._ Law thought as he burst out laughing in a rusty cackle.

He rarely laughed and meant it these days. However, this was a very amusing coincidence that managed to rattle loose some of his mask letting his true emotions to surface.

_So what remains to be seen…is who will become black holes with the power to shape the universe around them to their whims and who will fizzle out and be devoured in the other's wakes._

Fingers catching under the red-bound leather, he snapped the cover shut.


	2. As a Kite

**Disclaimer**—One Piece and all associated characters ect belongs to Eiichiro Oda not me I just enjoy reading/watching it. Spoken dialogue belongs to him if it seems very familiar.

Not Beta'd or edited save spell checker—I am looking at profiles and have yet to decide who to PM and ask to edit for me. So, sorry about my spelling and grammar if I missed anything, I am crap at checking my own work. Feel free to tell me _nicely_ if there is something that needs to be fixed, I will happily use your suggestions.

**General:** I have taken out any explicit language on . AO3 has the uncut version which I prefer. I am paranoid, but I also want to stay true to the fact that both the anime and manga characters are quite liberal with swearing.

They are pirates after all.

**Specific notes on chapter at the end…**

* * *

Law blinked in a daze at the metal ceiling. His mouth felt like he had eaten cotton mixed with burnt popcorn and his eyesight was blurred at the edges where it wasn't wobbling. The self-diagnosis came too slow and was almost unwillingly drawn out from the muddled slurry that was his thoughts.

_That is…not good…I think…I have been…drugged…_

He rolled over onto his side and instantly regretted it as a nearby light blinded him.

_Oh…son of a…bright…add photosensitivity to symptoms…urggggh._

He clenched his eyes shut pressing his cheek against the cool metal he was laying on. Attempting to wet his dry lips with an equally dry tongue he contemplated his current state of being.

_I am on the floor…how the hell did I end up on the floor?_

Once the pain faded to a tolerable level he finished moving onto his stomach and slowly pushed himself onto his knees then lifted his leaden frame into a shaky stand. He stood unassisted for a short moment before his joints refused to support him and he stumbled. Only the fact he ran into a wall kept him from rejoining the floor. His fingertips dug into the metal and pipes for traction and he chanced opening his eyes again.

The world was tipped at an alarming angle and the blurriness hadn't gone away. His stomach was churning forcing him to swallow a mouthful of bitter bile. He took a slow deep breath.

_Well…this is unpleasant…_

A persistent din on the edge of his hearing drew his attention.

With slow unstable steps keeping a firm grip on the wall pipes he worked his way methodically toward the origin of the noise. As he did, the sound got louder and he could start to make out words.

It was _singing._

"_We alllllll live in a yellow submarine! We hate the stupid thing! We wannna paint it green! Weeeeeee all live in a yellow submarineeee! Yellowwwwwww submarineeee! Hoozah!"_

For a moment Law just stopped out of pure incredulity. He _recognized_ those voices.

_What. The. Hell?_ He thought eyes narrowing in speculation.

He forced himself to the doorway and clasped the frame straitening as much as he could. Law felt a nerve in his temple begin to twitch as he was greeted with a scene that he would later do whatever he could to forget, though with little success.

_I think…my eyes are going to melt, or perhaps my brain._ He thought shaking his head and hoping it would go away.

The room was somewhat obscured through the cloud of sweetly-acidic smoke that clogged the air, but that was a blessing, as what Law _could_ see of the walls was _covered_ in strange circular symbols of every color of the rainbow. In the center of the room was the entirety of his crew grouped in a circle badly singing at the top of their lungs. What was worse was each and every one was wearing a strange combination of color-splotched clothes, sandals, and homemade headbands.

The one exception was Bepo who was missing his orange boiler suit and instead somehow managed to dye his _fur_ in the colors the rest were wearing. It made the bear-man look absolutely _ridiculous_.

Penguin had somehow managed to locate a guitar along with a pair of orange sunglasses and was even playing the instrument with great enthusiasm.

More astoundingly was that he wasn't half bad at it, though his singing left a _lot _to be desired.

Law's grip on the door slackened somewhat and he slid to his knees.

_What is wrong with me? How did I get drugged and what with?_ Looking at his crew he frowned. _And not just me…they are obviously hallucinating…and now that I think about it…I am recalling some rather disturbing…memories myself._

Namely fragments of Technicolor flowers and spirals dancing around in a dizzying pattern of impossibility.

His stomach rolled in disagreement and his eyes shot wide with realization and instant later.

_We were __**all**__ affected…so we were all dosed at the same time…_

"The food…" He breathed.

Something they had _eaten_ had done this.

_But what? _

Their cook wasn't one who knew a great variety of dishes to prepare. He did his job well, but was more geared for nutrition, not taste. He never forgot to serve dishes that could be eaten without bread as per his captain's preference and was quite picky on his ingredients for a rule. But, mistakes could be made by anyone.

Law attempted to think of anything odd about the food they had consumed the night before.

They had been served chicken tempura with mixed vegetables, if he was recalling correctly. The chicken had been a nice change from fish, an acquisition from the island they had stopped at for supplies.

_Someone poisoned our food? That's a bit low; even if we are pirates at least we paid for it. It's not like we causing trouble or terrorizing them for the hell of it._ Law thought. _Besides, Cook checks the supplies, as far as I know, for most of the common poisons. He even taste-tests his ingredients knowing I can treat him if he does poison himself. So what managed to get past him?_

Law scored his mental library for _something_ that fit the symptoms he was experiencing and seeing.

"Heyyyyy, Sha-_chan_? Where are the _booooomers_?" Penguin crooned striking a complicated chord.

Despite himself, Law choked on a laugh at the effeminate nickname for one of his most flirtatious crewmembers.

_Wonder if he and Penguin are overcompensating rather than actually __**being**__ interested in woman when we port…_ Law frowned when he realized he had gotten distracted on a tangent.

Shachi stood sway walking over to a burlap sack that sat on the ground and bent over to pick it up. He missed, grabbing at it several times and actually fell over in a sprawl of limbs before he managed a complicated maneuver to grasp the bag. Still on the floor he caterpillar crawled back to the circle deciding walking was out of his abilities at the moment.

"Bahdum! BahDum! I am a pretty little _butterfly_!Where is my hoooookah?!" He bellowed rejoining the circle.

Penguin leaned over and hit the other man in the head with the box of the guitar. Shachi looked up at him blinking once very slowly. A wide grin broke out on his face.

"HEeeey Peeeenguin…Hey you gotta try these…they are like…" He waved his hands around violently the bag flying out of his grasp and landing on his head. "You _know?_"

Penguin dug his hand into the bag and pulled out a handful of shriveled brown and blue objects. He shoved the handful in his mouth awkwardly, half of the objects missing their intended destination and falling around him. They didn't sit on the floor long as they were quickly snatched up by the other crewmembers and promptly eaten.

"Dude! I think I can like…you know fly or something! I mean look at these hands their all…cool. Like with _fingers._" One crowed.

"_Superpowers_!"

"HHAHAHAHaaaaa...yellow…why is the submeia…submaru…ship-thing yellow anyhow? That's like ah…you know…target?"

It took Law a moment to recognize the objects.

_Mushrooms._

Law groaned softly. And so _that_ little mystery was solved and he relaxed realizing that that this was likely not a purposeful attack on his crew. Law knew there were a number of mushroom species that were not exactly _poisonous_ but were actually used as recreational drugs due to their hallucinogenic properties. Apparently they sold for quite a bit, from what he recalled from his time under Joker. He had mostly ignored that facet of Jokers market, as drugs were only interesting for the few minutes it took to read over how they affected the bodies of various races.

_My crew of idiots managed to buy hallucinogenic fungi on some backwater island no one has heard of…and promptly get every single one of us high on them…completely by __**accident**__._ With his free hand Law face-palmed. _Well, at least it will wear off. Eventually. But for now, damage control._

Concentrating on the chaotic energy circulating his body Law raised his hand.

"**Room**."

The dome thankfully formed and though it was smaller than he intended, it managed to encompass the area he desired. He was forced to stabilize himself on the doorframe before he did anything else however.

"Wah! Check it out! Its like a…like a…" One of the crewmen shouted.

"Half a thing?"

"YEAH!" Came the unanimous agreement of the others.

"It's a _room_." Bepo knowingly commented nodding with his arms crossed.

"The hell it is!" The others shouted.

Bepo's head dropped and his whole body doubled over to make his body as small as possible.

"I'm sorry…" He moaned depressed.

_Well…now I know that some things will never change. I can't decide if that is a good thing or not though._ Law dug around in his pocket picking out a marble and raised his hand again.

"**Shambles.**" He yanked on a particular strand of energy.

And in an instant he held the bag in his hand, the marble clattered to the floor next to Shachi.

"Hey! It's the Man! Cheese it!" Shachi garbled attempting to stand but slipping on the floor comically.

The ensuing scramble of crewmen ended with all of them in a big pile of moaning bodies. Law was reminded of times when he had shambled a bunch of marines together.

"And on _that_ note, I will leave you all to sleep it off." Law commented to the room at large.

He turned and finally feeling somewhat sturdy on his feet, slowly made his way back to his room his stride occasionally faltering so he ran into a wall.

* * *

Law flipped the lights on high hearing a number of screams and swears in direct response.

"Oh gods! It burns!"

"Sweet merciful…"

"Uggg…"

"What happened to the female bears?"

"Get your foot out of my eye!"

"Get _your_ face out of my crotch! _You_ _pervert_!"

"AAHHHHH! SHUT UP!"

Looking at his crew dispassionately Law waited for them to adjust to the change and notice his presence.

"Ohhh, my head…_Law-sencho_!" The last was nearly shrieked.

Every set of eyes turned to Law's tall frame where it was backlit by the harsh hall lights. The circles under his eyes were more pronounced than usual and his cheeks were pale due in part to the Ipecacuanha extract he had taken to purge his stomach of its contents. His expression was blank and posture tense.

In short, he looked like a demon strait from hell.

"As of this moment," Law began once he was sure he had everyone's attention, "_mushrooms_ are banned from meals and purchase. _Any_ mushrooms found on board will be confiscated with _enthusiastic_ urgency and the one responsible punished…accordingly. _Understood_?"

His voice was deathly calm though somewhat gritty but it brooked no argument. Thus the order was met with frantic nods in agreement, even as his crew cringed from the movement.

"Furthermore, there will be a few more tests to pass on food we buy in port. I will be showing them to you later and do know I will be _testing_ you on what you learn. Lastly, as soon as you can drag your sorry asses into gear, you will _clean up this mess_ and get dressed properly. Bepo, you come with me, we are going to need the chemical bleach from the safe for your fur."

To their credit, several managed to stand and get working. They were confused as to what caused the explosion of color and terrible smell permeating the room, evidenced by the cries of dismay, but started cleaning obediently anyway.

Bepo shuffled up to Law. He was looking the best off of the crew, as far as recovery went. Law attributed it to his larger body mass and the fact that he wasn't entirely human anymore. Drugs could affect animals oddly after all. And Bepo was a strange hybrid of _both_; Law was continually surprised by how Bepo reacted to sickness and injury after his transformation. Bepo alone had three journals full of medical notes from the past year.

"Er Law-_sencho_…what should we do with these? Bleach them?" Shachi asked hesitantly plucking at his ruined boiler suit in revulsion when he saw the mess of pink and chartreuse interspersed with white spirals.

Laws reply was sharp.

"_Burn them_!"

Shachi jerked back startled at the vehemence in Law's order and the terrifying glint in his eyes.

"Er…y-yes Law-_sencho. _Right away." He stuttered swallowing a lump in his throat.

Turning back to the bear Law noticed his downcast look.

"Its either bleach or getting completely shaved." He bluntly stated.

Bepo's eyes widened and he raised his paws defensively and replied in a panicked voice.

"Bleach! Bleach Law-_sencho_!"

* * *

Law entered his room too exhausted to indulge in on of his medical texts as he normally would. He managed to make it to his bed before collapsing on it. A bulge underneath his spine prompted him to snake his arm under his back and pull out the offending object. He cringed as soon as he recognized what had once been his shirt. For a moment he just stared at it.

With a surge of pure will and stubborn grit he forced himself to his feet and over to his personal furnace that heated his room and several of the rooms nearby. He pulled open the handle watching the flames lick at the red metal inside. Law gave one last blank look at the shirt and tossed it into the fire.

Barely standing he watched dispassionately as the cloth burned to ashes and was no more. He closed the door definitively locking the handle.

_There. No more evidence. _Law thought making his way back to bed and to his long delayed rest.

* * *

_His hands held the shirt over the bowl of blue dye. He had tied the fabric into wads with rubber tubing he normally used for I.V.'s and carefully dipped in corners and edges as he had done already with emerald green. He missed the bowl a few times but eventually finished his task. Untying the bands he shook out the finished product._

"_That's wicked…Lawson...Lawman…It's like, an expression of freedom! And like…you know?" One of the others said clasping his shoulder. "Power to the people!"_

_He hummed in agreement putting the shirt back on and tugging it down over his torso. It was backwards, but he liked the pattern on the back more anyway, it resembled waves and clouds if one looked at it right. The face that had been on the front bothered him for some reason with the blue dye cutting through it diagonally, it reminded him of __**something**__ he hated but couldn't remember clearly what that was at the moment. _

"_This was a great idea Lawrence!" The voice broke him from the unpleasant thought._

"_Yeah! Where did you learn to make these things? They are like…magic man."_

"_Umph…around…" He grunted in reply he blinked as something caught his eye near the doorway. "I gotta…go do something…"_

"_Hey, that wall, like, needs freedom too!"_

"_You're right! Let's help it out!"_

_Law began to wonder off down the hall after the Sea King mermaid with the tutu. The multicolored swirls danced around his feet like kittens while flowers sprouted in his footsteps. _

_As he walked he sung under his breath._

"_Each and every one of us…has all we need…sky of blue…sea of green…in oooour yellow, submarineeeee…"_

* * *

**Notes and Citations**

Interestingly this turned out a bit more serious then intended near the end. I am not disappointed with how it turned out however. Thankfully I don't have to check it against cannon like the other "insects" I am working on at current. For time reference this is after the Bleach incident—so they are in the Grand Line—I may or may not write that one out, but before Sabaody. I purposefully left off dialogue markers of identificaion as most of the Heart Pirates are unnamed "possible red shirts" and this is supposed to be somewhat confused as Law is still drugged for most of the events.

Shachi is referencing the Blue caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland via Lewis Carroll. Considering the whole series is a bit of a drug trip it was kind of a given to include somehow.

This was inspired in part by this picture browse. deviantart art/wE -aLL-LiVe- 244934061., I laughed a good deal about it when I imagined the crew singing along. And also by the parodied version of the song that I don't recall where I first heard it or who originally made it up.

Boomers and the burnt popcorn reference both from the Urban Dictionary. Shrooms would have given it all away too quickly so I needed more slang for them…I am not up to date on my street lingo, so I only knew the one term.

For the record, I am not actually a fan of the Beetles. I however, like most people, do know about this particular piece of pop culture. As tribute to April Fools day on Monday and the fact that I wanted to work the parody in somehow to this verse we get this…may I be forgiven. The last line is a direct quote from the original song by the Beetles, I just googled the lyrics.

Ipecacuanha- en. / wiki/ Carapichea_ipecacuanha

In short what they make Ipecac Surup from. It induces vomiting. I would imagine Law would douse himself with some to make sure he got any left over's out of his stomach before it could metabolize. (By the way that is how the mushrooms got past the cook, they didn't metabolize fast enough for him to notice the effects so deemed them safe.) Law strikes me as the kind of person who would not be a fan of drugs (at least when used on himself, he likely finds it quite interesting to watch others under the influence) as he presents as a control freak. Drug effects are quite the _opposite_ of that, so I would think he would have a knee-jerk negative reaction to being under the influence and attempt to get in back into control as soon as possible.

Also facts etc checked against the wiki.


	3. Taste

**Disclaimer**—One Piece and all associated characters ect belongs to Eiichiro Oda not me I just enjoy reading/watching it. Spoken dialogue belongs to him if it seems very familiar.

-unless otherwise corrected on this, I am making a **_lot_** of assumptions and know it. If anything is updated I will alter this to fit or mark it as AU.

-I have yet to hear back from someone who thinks they have found me a beta. Until then I will just continue to edit as much as I can and post. Any glaring errors let me know and I will fix them.

* * *

He turned it over in his hands. It was a breadfruit to all appearances. It fit cupped in one long-fingered hand, its rough hide abrasive against his skin. It was even a rich green, as breadfruit was, the brilliant almost blinding green of new leaves. There were two things that set it apart from its mundane cousins. First the thick stem was curled around itself like a corkscrew and second each and every little ridge had a dark green, nearly black, spiral on it. If one didn't know better the spirals could be mistaken for an infestation of some sort, worms perhaps. But that was far from the truth.

For it was those last two characteristics that were the most distinguishing and damning. They branded the fruit for what it was and told anyone with any knowledge that it was one of the most rare and sought after treasures in the sea.

_The fruit of the devils, a double-edged sword hidden behind a thin veneer of fruit flesh. _He thought swiping his thumb pad across the uneven surface absently.

Law let the ovular fruit roll from one hand into the other as he contemplated the choices he was now presented with. He was not one to act without some sort of plan behind it if he had the option. He had learned the hard way that jumping into something without prior thought would lead to his own destruction thanks to his temper and the occasional reckless impulse. It had been a painful and costly lesson to learn patience, but the acquisition had been invaluable to his future plans.

The cons of the decision before him came to the front of the internal debate first. This was also a learned process of thinking. Law had discovered that by reviewing the disadvantages of an issue before anything else he was less likely to be over tempted by rewards gained through unnecessary risk.

Firstly, he had no idea what power this thing would grant upon consumption. That was the game of chance each person who ate one took, unless they were lucky enough to find one of the cataloged fruits. Not that the books were always accurate, through either accident or design.

Second, was the loss of the ability to swim when he was a pirate. The world was predominately made up of ocean and thus this weakness was a bit of a put off. As much as Law enjoyed the rush produced by adrenaline, he didn't like indulging in blatant stupidly. It would only take one misstep to take a quick trip to the bottom of the ocean. Even with a large crew the chances of getting saved from a watery grave were not great a good portion of the time, with his crew of three, rescues didn't bare thinking about. And that was _without_ being akin to an anchor in the water, or venturing into the Grand Line.

Third, he could just sell the damn thing and just make a profit off of it. Money of that sort would give him a good start on his career. This was almost a possible gain but it may be the only time he came across a fruit and if he sold it he would loose all chance at the power.

Then there were the pros.

He had it in his hands, one of the incredibly rare fruits that granted science-defying abilities. Powers that could range from being able to turn into a force of nature, an animal, or the ability to do things beyond the comprehension of imagination—all and only one, just a single bite away.

Law didn't even have to fight for or pay an obscene price for the fruit. He had been lucky enough to stumble upon it by _chance_. The odds of this were incredibly low. It felt almost like _fate_ that the breadfruit should have found its way into his possession. He didn't believe in providence and divinity but fate and luck were both the staples of a pirate's life.

Thus it came down to the most tempting reason.

_Power_. Law knew his skills: his swordsmanship, being completely ambidextrous, his precise surgeon's touch, above all these his _mind_. But he was also _painfully_ aware of his limits. He knew that out on the Grand Line and the New World he would need _every_ advantage he could get. Especially as he was also playing a very dangerous game in attempt to undermine Joker, all while not to get caught in the act. Not to mention gain a foothold for himself in the world as a great name.

"Eh Law-sencho? What is that?"

Law's eyes flicked over to Penguin, one of the two new members he had picked up on Sitka Island. He and his friend Shachi were both terrible skirt chasers and overly dramatic in personality. However, they were both loyal and unexpectedly adapt at martial arts. The same martial arts that had made Bepo such a challenging opponent _still_ made him a challenging and frankly dangerous adversary.

"It's a Devil Fruit." He answered tossing the fruit back into his other hand, his lips compressed into a thin line.

"What are you going to do with it?" Shachi asked. "Eat it?"

"Why would he eat it?" Penguin asked frowning at his friend.

Shachi cuffed him upside his head unsettling his black and white namesake hat, "Idiot! Devil Fruits give you superpowers if you eat one. They can be incredibly strong or really silly and useless. And you only get to eat one, cuz eating two makes you blow up, so if you are unlucky and get something lame as your power you are stuck with it _forever_. Plus you loose the ability to swim as the ocean hates your guts as soon as you take a bite of one."

"_Ehhh_? Wait! They are _real_? I thought that was just a _story_!" Penguin yelled waving his arms around frantically.

Their conversation soon deviated from Law and into a self-contained argument that lead them from the room in a noisy exit.

Law ignored them, but did not ignore the large shadow that moved over him casting his hands into darkness. He looked up seeing Bepo standing before him in his new, _EYE-BLINDING-ORANGE! Of all colors,_ boiler suit. Law was the only one on board aware of just what the fabric covered.

As good a doctor and surgeon that Law was, and not matter how much he had been able to speed learn of veterinary medicine, he had been unable to completely undo the damage that had been done to the man-turned-bear. Bepo was still missing large patches of hair leaving his scared black skin exposed in several wide swaths. Law doubted that they would ever grow back and if it did it would not be the thick luxuriousness of healthy fur.

His fingers unconsciously clenched around the fruit in his hand, the short spines dug into his fingers, the pain grounded him for long enough to be drawn back to reality.

"Bepo?" He queried not knowing what had garnered his friend's attention.

The bear cocked his large head to the side as he looked at the fruit. He said nothing keeping his gaze focused on the green fruit in Law's hands. Bepo's nostrils flared taking in a scent Law couldn't smell and soulful dark brown eyes were uncharacteristically vacant and yet piercing as if he was seeing something beyond Law's understanding.

Law wondered if Bepo recalled consuming a similar—though very different—fruit. The artificial fruits Law had seen had been covered in concentric rings not spirals and were not as 'affective' as their authentic counterparts. There were times Law thought that Bepo was on the verge of remembering something more concrete of the time that he had been human, like at this moment, but so far there had been no positive signs of him recovering his personality.

The chained beast at the bottom of Laws soul made the choice for him, its raging roar overpowering any objections he had. A flash of anger surged to the surface choking Law in the red haze.

**_Revenge._** It growled reminding him of twisted smiles, mocking laughter, and the taste of his own blood seasoning the pain from numerous beatings.

_Yes._ Law gave in knowing that he could weapons any power the fruit gave him, he had the intelligence and canniness to do so. And it would be a seemingly useless power that would make him the most underestimated.

Law took his knife from his belt and cut the fruit in half decisively but precisely and cut again until he had four even wedges. Taking one he lifted it to his lips and savagely took a bite out of the pale flesh covered in visible dark spirals mirroring the ones on the fruit's skin.

Later he would recall that moment and realize that there had been a noticeable change as soon as the skin of his lips and tongue had touched the flesh of the fruit. That he likely could have spat out the offending substance and still had the powers that came with it. That in that moment, he could feel the electric hum of chaotic energy flood through his blood and body like a hive of agitated bees.

That was later.

This was now.

And _now _all Law could think was utter revulsion.

Even the food that was more rot than edible that Vergo had fed Law as punishment for some slight was more palatable than this. Nothing Law had tasted before now could even compare to the flavor molesting his mouth.

It was complex and each layer to it made the whole experience that much _worse_. The flavors came in sequence, one after the other, and then wove into one unique and unforgettable _horribleness_ that went past mere taste and into a whole other sense beyond the mundane five.

_Bread._ That was surprising, as breadfruit in appearance or not he had not expected the fruit to retain any characteristics of the plant it resembled. It was a _Devil Fruit_ first and foremost, one in the _shape_ of a breadfruit, not an _actual_ breadfruit.

_Blood._ He could recognize that facet of the taste easily. He had partaken of that particular substance often. Both his own when he had been hurt and the many others he had cut down.

_Brine. _The blending of ocean and river in this case, so that the salt was not overpowering but all the more distasteful for the dilution. This was strange, as the consumption of a fruit would bind the eater from friendly contact with the sea and other standing water until their demise.

It was the last that was the thread sewing the others together and made them an unbearable overload of _wrongness_. It was saccharine and cloying, like a cheep whore calling out on the corner of the docks. But it was bitter as bile and regret, mixed with the oozing sour-sweetness of illness. It, unlike the others went beyond his mouth and filled his lungs choking him, _drowning_ him.

In his struggles to regain his breath he swallowed reflexively unaware he had dropped the rest of the wedge in favor of clawing at his mouth and neck. It was if his subconscious realized better than his conscious mind of the anathema that he was undergoing.

_Rot. Decay. Loss. Fear….__**DEATH**__._

His stomach churned in disagreement while the rest of his body was energized and alive in a way it had never been before.

Strong fur and cloth-covered arms folded themselves around him and restrained his hands from his face and throat. He strained against them but was soon able to calm as the taste dissipated to tolerable levels.

Feeling him relax, Bepo let him go.

"Are you okay Law-sencho?" Bepo's voice was quiet, afraid, once again the bear he had found all alone in a small dark room.

Unable to talk yet Law nodded. His jaw and teeth ached and he realized he had been clenching them together so hard that he had strained his jaw muscles. Law took a slow breath through his teeth and forced his mouth open slowly hearing his joints crack with audible pops. He flinched feeling the muscles spasm in protest.

"You're bleeding Law-sencho." Bepu observed quietly with worried eyes.

Swallowing, Law blinked and looked at his hands. His nails were speckled with flecks of blood and his face burned in hot bands where he had ripped at his own skin.

The ghost of the fruit lingered in his mouth making him want to vomit. Even thinking about vomiting made his stomach twist and overturn. Tasting bile Law swayed on his feet.

A dish was shoved under his nose and Law jerked backward with a stumble, Bepo's paw steadied him while the other held the offering.

"Here Law-sencho."

He took the offered _sakazuki_ and drained the liquid, feeling the sake burn its way down his esophagus taking the flavor with it. He still felt sick, but the lingering scent and taste were gone.

"Better? Good!" The bear hopped excitedly on his tiptoes before dropping to a prone position on floor eyeing Law with a sparkle of wisdom in his eyes.

Law unsteadily lowered himself to the ground and leaned back against his friend's muscled bulk. He felt his stomach settle some with the reclined position. Letting out a shaky breath he leaned his head back against Bepu closing his eyes.

* * *

He was able to walk around unassisted in time for dinner. Shachi had cooked and Law mentally ticked down a memo to find a proper cook as soon as possible as there was no way that the current arrangement would work once they left the North Blue. There was too much that could go wrong out on the open ocean if one didn't know what they were doing with supplies. Being both captain and doctor of the crew Law could not afford to cover being the full time cook too, even if he was well aware of what foods were good to keep healthy or help treat illness. That and just because he knew what was good to eat didn't mean he could make it palatable. There was also the fact that between the four of them two could cook edible food and of those two only Law could work the stove without lighting himself on fire.

_That_ had been an informative meal ending with sushi made out of whatever hadn't' been incinerated in the crossfire. It turned out that peanut butter-mayo-salmon with pickles and carrot wrapped in tortillas wasn't half bad if one added enough Tabasco.

This time, Shachi had made sandwiches, as they were difficult to make incorrectly and thus a safe choice. Food poisoning was not fun and stomach pumping even less so—something that had also been found out during the sushi episode. In retrospect, the wasabi and marshmallow with celery and sardines had _not_ been a good choice for sushi makings.

Even with Tabasco.

_Especially_ with the Tabasco.

Law picked his sandwich up and even as he bit down the _smell_ of the bread hit him in the face like a hammer. The taste of the baked grain came a moment later with a vengeance. His violent response to get the offending food _away_ from his person was admittedly a bit over the top, but he had not been expecting to have such a reaction and been unable to curb the reflex. The sandwich ended up splattered on the wall opposite in a bizarre piece of abstract art. Penguin and Shachi were stuck half way between horror and confusion and were frozen in somewhat comical wide-eyed poses. Bepo was humming delightedly while eating his sandwich, a large toothy grin stretched across his muzzle all the while ignoring his crewmates in favor of his meat-filled dinner.

Law blankly stared at what remained of his sandwich taking a mouthful of sake in attempt to get the taste purged from his mouth. His stomach, which had been settled, roiled in an unwelcome recap of only hours previous.

_Taste aversion._ His mind whispered the diagnosis without his prompting his internal index of maladies.

Even without eating bread, the _flavor_ of the substance was now one that he could no longer palate. The taste was now engrained into his unconscious body, _nerves_, to be associated with spoiled and toxic food. As far as his body was concerned, bread was _fatal_ to eat and would reject it as quickly as possible. It was not a response he would be able to control or train himself out of.

He knew at that moment he would never be able to eat bread again.

_I can no longer swim. I will weaken at the touch of seastone. I have no idea what power I now have and if it will be enough of a trump card when I need it._ _And the taste of bread will forever make me violently ill. _Laws thoughts were roiling even as he calmly partook of anything else on the table that wasn't bread or similar ignoring Shachi and Penguins inquiring eyes. _The question is: was it worth it?_

* * *

_ The chaotic energy danced just under his skin, impatient to be let free. It bubbled anxiously, almost trying to claw its way out of his body. He indulged it with a raised hand and a command._

_"__**Room.**__" _

_ The film of the dome encased him and his enemies His sword drawn for only a instant cut through the mass of bodies, not physically touching them, yet ripping them asunder all the same. The energy twisting around Law was like a billion threads that only he could see and perceive, that only he could touch and control. He took them in his hands as a smile stretched across his lips; the chaos was nearly joyous and playful making him share in its game. _

_ "__**Shambles!**__" _

_The world shattered. _

_ Law stood in the middle of the dance, directing each move with the slightest tug of his fingers against the taunt strings of the spiraling spider web. He alone stood in the center of bedlam, the conductor of the symphony at the eye of the storm. Law began to laugh directing the orchestra with his hands twisting through the air. _

_ With his hands he created. _

_ With his hands he destroyed. _

_ With his hands he manipulated._

_ With his hands he remade things anew. _

_ With his hands he held death in his fingers. _

_ The beast chuckled along with him, watching pandemonium unfold at their fingertips and answered Law's silent unanswered question with a pleased rumble and the rattling of chains waiting to break free. _

_**YES.**_

* * *

**Specific Notes (Sorry they are long today)**

-Taste Aversion: Know it, hate it, respect it, and if you are unlucky enough to have had it happen, I feel for you. The short of it is that when you (or a number of animal species) take a bite of a food and you get really sick in a certain timeframe it is possible to form an inability to stand the taste of the food you ate before the response. This type of learning only takes one incident to happen and can happen on a significant delay but it is a potent reaction that doesn't really go away.

**_-_**The bread thing that has come to light in recent chapters was bothering me. So I thought of how such a thing could happen as bread seems to be a weird thing not to like to eat, as it is such a staple of the human diet. So I was left with three choices 1. Law just doesn't like bread because of taste or association (Occam's razor approach). 2. He is allergic and not going to admit it because that is a weakness (In character, but a bit petty). 3. He literally cannot eat it (Interesting). And me being the scientist thought…oh hey, _Taste Aversion_. And conveniently there is a fruit that tastes…da dada daaaah, like **bread**. My mind then jumped to the fact that Devil Fruits are supposed to taste terrible—maybe even bad enough to register a Taste Aversion response with the right person. And apparently this bad taste is universal but _varied_ in reaction making this even likelier—we have seen several characters eat their fruits on camera and I recall Luffy took it like a champ but CP-9 not as much…I think. So in theory Law could develop a condition from eating his fruit but no one else we seen has or isn't talking about it.

-So what might the things taste like to get such a drastic physiological response? It has to be **bad**. We know that the fruits are transformed from a real fruit of the same variety thanks to the new chapters and the knowledge of re-spawning. So the first component of the taste is in fact the taste of the fruit—anywhere I have heard the flavor of these things mentioned I have yet to see this used and I like being unique. Second, brine. Brine is nasty on its own, its not the same as pure saltwater, for some reason the dilution actually makes it worse to taste. I personally will take a gulp of strait out of the ocean seawater, over brine. This is more symbolic than anything, a kind of "know your enemy" sort of deal. Third, so what is abhorrent on an _evolutionary_ standpoint since Taste Aversion is related to that stuff…blood, yeah that indicates injury and not something exactly pleasant to taste. And thus we are brought to death. We are designed to not like rotted things. Death wigs humans and even animals out. So not a bad plan for something that is supposedly _nasty._ But what does death taste like? Simple answer…heck if I know. I know what rot tastes like though (bitten into rotten fruit and any plant-based alcohol is pretty much rotted/fermented…I know from experience both are pretty bad if you don't have the taste for the latter) and the smell is something I have been exposed to repeatedly. Sickness leads to death so it gets a special mention for contributing bitter and sweet sour to the menagerie.

-Wikipedia for the name of the sake dish. Under Sake Set.

-Weaponizing all DF: My personal opinion is that **_every single one _**can be weaponized. Somehow. You just need to be creative about it (Case and point _LUFFY_ and Robin if you think about what their powers as they are and not how they are using them). Similarly, they can all be useless if you don't have an imagination or intention. Law wouldn't be nearly as dangerous if he wasn't already a surgeon…he is used to cutting people up and playing "god" in a manner of speaking. Scientific curiosity can be a very dangerous thing, look into the history of medicine alone and you will find that Law doesn't even **_touch_** some real word physicians in the creepy as hell and sadistic department.


	4. A Heart in the Hand

**Disclaimer**—One Piece and all associated characters ect belongs to Eiichiro Oda not me I just enjoy reading/watching it. Spoken dialogue belongs to him if it seems very familiar.

-I don't have much to say upfront about this other than it's possible _REASONS _for what went down: notes at the end.

**A Heart in the Hand...Is worth its weight in blackmail.**

* * *

Answering the knock on the heavy metal door was something he found himself regretting almost as soon as the deed was done. Though he would not be aware of the full impact that one action would have until _far_ later. In retrospect, he would realize that things had begun to go to hell as soon as he had bargained away his heart, but he only _noticed_ things getting out of his complete control when he had been unable to make the marines leave Punk Hazard.

_Vacation home? _Law internally flinched at the incredibly stupid excuse he had used half jokingly, even as he kept up the arrogant smiling façade he used as custom. _No one is going to buy that. Even G-5 marines can't be __**that**__ stupid._

Smoker promptly telling him that Law had no business on Punk Hazard provoked him into a cutting reply and Law regretted his burst of temper.

_My what a hypocrite you are Smoker-ya._ Law thought as he observed the G-5 marines and their leader assembled before the doorway. It was a bit of a rush being the only thing, aside from the thick metal door, barring their entrance. But then again, Law did have a rather _colorful_ reputation these days.

_Amazing what a hundred hearts in hand can do for your future business prospects._ Law thought with amusement remembering his theatrical parley to enter under the government's wing involving a crate filled with still beating hearts.

Considering his upbringing, it would have been impossible for him not to pick up some dramatic flair. It truly had been an inspired ploy.

The woman asking him to stand down was actually somewhat insulting but the information about others being on the island was noted with some interest. It must be someone of worth if Smoker had decided to ignore the taboo of the island so easily. The man may have been obsessed with Justice, thankfully not Absolute Justice, but he was like a terrier hounding a rat when he was on the hunt and would disregard the word of the law if it suited him.

_I do wonder what will happen when he is no longer hunting for them like a good dog and decides to act like the back alley mongrel he is and bites them on their hands._ Law thought with a scoff. _I wonder if he has had all his shots?_

The recording _den den mushi_ the female marine pulled out for him was quite a considerate action, especially when she let him hear exactly what had brought G-5 to Punk Hazard. The voice was instantly recognized. It was one of those voices you would never forget after hearing it, even if it was but once.

_Monkey D. Luffy…hmmm…that holds potential._ His mind spiraled though various possibilities and ways he could deal with this unexpected reunion of sorts.

Smokers question was rather unneeded as it wasn't exactly a secret that he had taken Luffy from the battle at Marineford two years previous. Nor was the fact that he was at the human action house at the same time as the younger captain and Kidd. Law also there to act as a witness to when Luffy decided to punch a Celestial Dragon in the face. Both events had been widely witnessed by marines and talkative civilians. These events had made it difficult at times to get the kind of trust he desired so he could ferret out information from right underneath the governments noses.

Oh, but what a punch it had been. And also a very rare look into why eight rather skilled individuals, all of them now with bounties, followed someone as _ridiculous_ as Monkey D. Luffy. It had also been one of the few things in recent times to make Law actually feel a sliver of, albeit vindictive, _joy_.

_Not the smartest of dogs are you?_ Law thought even as he contemplated a way to talk the marines into leaving but was coming up dry on good ideas, frankly, he was distracted by so many variables that had just been introduced to derail his plans.

Additionally, he wasn't sure just yet that the marines _leaving_ would actually be to his benefit. After all, canon fodder was always welcome when one was planning a siege. And if Law didn't have to use his own men, who he had left behind on Zo, then why _not_ use a bunch of morons who were almost _volunteering _to be meat shields?

_Gods only know what Caesar is doing here with the S.A.D. gas at his disposal. He is alarmingly obsessed with gases and experiments involving them. _Law felt his lips twitch as he suppressed a grimace. _Not that I have been able to find much of what he is really up to here. _

Law decided to attempt to gain some time to properly think and plan on how he should handle the new information he had been given, so he questioned the authenticity of the cry for help. Of course was well aware that it _was_ real. He knew what samurai was being discussed after all.

_How intriguing. The Wano samurai is still quite apt at fighting even in three pieces. There must be some truth to the rumors of their skill after all; I was fortunate to get the jump on him. I doubt I could have won easily in a strait sword fight against him._

Smoker promptly denied anything to do with the call, but his choice wording put Law on a defensive and forced him out of his lazy pose against the door. The wash of hot anger was abrupt and had him instantly on the defensive.

**_My_**_ trap. Does he think that? Surely he doesn't believe me to be __**stupid**__ enough to draw others to my location when I am here illegally myself? When I am so close to stepping up the Plan? When so much could go so __**very**__ wrong?_

He bit out a curt reply and instantly swore silently as he had not actually given it thought but said it mostly on reflex.

_Darn it. Smoker isn't __**completely**__ stupid or inept; I just gave him a great way to think I am, in fact, guilty._ Law's lips twitched down into a frown. _Which means he will want to stick around and __**investigate**__. _

Smoker demanding to see inside the Lab was not welcome, Law had yet to find a way to access the S.A.D. after all. And he had yet to come up with a good diversion to get at the gas without losing hold of its soul maker in the process. Unfortunately due to his anger, he spat out the first thing to come to mind in a growl, which was regrettably about as stupid as the first time he had claimed it.

_Davy Jones claim it! Am I really going to keep up with the __**vacation home**__ gambit to try and explain why they should go away? That was in all likelihood the lamest excuse I have ever come up with in my life, and now I am sticking to it like an utter moron. _Law amended himself quickly in attempt to salvage his reply and offered to cut of Luffy's head, though he didn't say anything about _leaving_ it off or it being fatal.

After all, the younger captain owed him still. It wouldn't do to kill him before Law cashed in on that debt. Not that Law would call it that, the best way to have someone repay a "kindness" was to tell them not to. The wonders of a guilty conscious were truly a glorious thing.

The woman looked very intimidated by his presence even though she was obviously passably skilled with a sword and a Captain in rank. He diagnosed it to a weak personality and the fact he was an imposing Shichibukai with a rather violent reputation involving dismembered body parts. Smoker was not even fazed.

Not that Law was surprised by that fact; Smoker was nothing if not a well-known hard ass.

_How in the hell did that woman get promoted? Hanging on your coattails Smoker-ya? Seems you're a softy on the inside, or she has some importance to you that makes you overlook her numerous deficiencies?_ Law thought with disgust. _A relative perhaps? A lover? If so, what does that say about your preferences?_

Their rather tense dialogue was interrupted by shrill echoing cries coming from inside the laboratory.

_What is this?_ Law tilted his head at the somewhat familiar noise he could not place, a second later the noise grew louder._ Well, __**there**__ went any shred of plausible deniability I possessed. Not that there was much to be had in the first place._

He felt a drop of sweat run down his temple and begin to freeze in the frigid air. Law wasn't particularly looking for a fight at the moment even if he was confident he could win. However, he was not keen on letting some of his tricks out in front of so many and also exhaust himself before the main event. A rush of air and a sense of someone coming at high velocity had him tip back on his heels as a large…_raccoon?_ Rammed its way easily through the door with a high-pitched yell.

_No, a __**reindeer**__ judging by the antlers but the body is wrong…a Zoan?_ His mind whirled wondering if Joker had sent someone after him at last but then he recalled where he last saw a deer with a hat. _Straw Hat-ya's crew, the doctor who treated the octopus-fishman at the action house, the one with the paltry bounty of 50 beri's._

His identification of the crew was confirmed as the Straw Hat's redheaded navigator, looking more developed and with longer hair, strode out complaining about the cold. Along with her was the cyborg, looking bigger and more metallic and the blond cook with the strange genetic quirk resulting in some truly _spectacular_ eyebrows.

In truth Law wouldn't have minded doing some medical investigations on three of the four. Straw Hat knew where to find some truly interesting specimens of humanity…well sentient life anyway. After all, they had an animated _skeleton_ running around with them if the newest bounty posters meant anything.

Strangely, they had a gaggle of children of various sizes with them. Including some that _looked_ like giants at first glance.

_And there is confirmation into Caesar's very shady experiments with giant genes, the sick depraved bastard that he is. _There was another familiar face, well _head_, also that he had at first overlooked being held by the blond cook. _Hh, the Wano samurai I sliced up…well a third of him anyhow, reassembled even. Trying to get ahead of the game by aligning himself with one of the more altruistic and powerful crews around? Not a terrible idea actually…_

He wasn't the only one that was doing observing. The navigator was intelligent enough to recognize him. Though, aside from some new clothes he had hardly changed in the past two years so he didn't give her much credit for her reaction. She was appropriately alarmed.

_Familiar? No really? I would never have guessed that._

The deer reminded her _why_ he was a familiar face and corrected Law's assumption she recalled exactly who he was as she blanched at hearing his name spoken. The reindeer had some credit to him if he recalled Law even as distracted as the younger doctor had been at the auction house.

_Though I can't help but feel a touch insulted by Cat Burglar Nami-ya. I didn't grow a full beard out or something equally significant. It's not like there is a whole lot of difference developmentally between 26 and 28._

The navigator spurred by her memory, and likely his reputation, promptly lay down a smack down of verbal blame. The words were mostly ignored however; it was too difficult to concentrate on them even if he cared to actually listen to what she was saying.

_Wow…shrill…and __**loud**__. Maybe I will run medical experiments on all __**four**__ of them then, __**autopsies**__ at the very least. _Law amended his earlier musing attempting not to cringe as his ears were assaulted._ If only to see how her vocal chords can reach such levels. It __**has**__ to be a mutation of some sort. Is Straw Hat-ya's crew full of mutants? His swordsman had __**green**__ hair if I recall correctly…_

The blond cook noticed Smoker, freaked out, and then and promptly ordered the group to run for another exit. They were gone in a short amount of time and well before anyone could react properly to their interruption.

Smoker's gritty voice called Law's bluff regarding his being alone on the island in a dry and blatantly sarcastic fashion, forcing Law to drag his eyes back to the marine.

_And you actually __**believed**__ my incredibly stupid ploy? Or are you just stating the obvious._ Law frown deepened as he turned his attention back to the marines. _Well, either way, this whole confrontation has degraded most unfavorably._

Attempting to play innocent but failing rather spectacularly Law truthfully admitted his own surprise at the revelation of other pirates around. The marines took this as their cue to ignore Laws presence and chase after Straw Hat Luffy's crew. Which would lead to them bumbling inside where they would make Caesar bug out and lessen Law's chances at getting what he came for and capturing the gas-human. That would be the outcome that is _if_ the morons got past Law.

_Crap, this is not good…I will have to alter my plans now._ He thought rapidly attempting to come up with a way to salvage his position. _Well then Smoker-ya. If you are going to mess with __**my**__ plans then I will force you to dance to my whims. First, by making sure you don't leave here alive, or at least, without my permission._

He let a portion of the chaotic energy circulating his body spin into a controlled ring under the palm of his free hand, the fingers of his other biting into the sheath of his sword in anticipation. As much as he didn't want this fight, the Straw Hat crew had forced his hand. They seemed to bring such improbable conflict with them as every time he had even been in their vicinity his plans had been derailed and forced to change to accommodate them.

_I may need to start imagining the most ridiculous of situations when they are around, as they seem to happen rather than the more probable outcomes._

"**Room**." He ordered willing the energy to spiral out into a large dome taking up most of the surrounding area.

_Shall we dance?_

He flipped over his hand feeling a surge of adrenalin and caught an invisible energy bundle yanking it skyward while closing his eyes to concentrate.

"**Tact!"**

The screams from the G-5 peons were very close to music in his ears. But this was only the start of the symphony; after all they hadn't even got to the first movement yet.

Law spoke clearly to the assembled mass of panicking men even going so far as to give them a rather fake apology, as he felt no guilt in his earlier lie. It hadn't even been a very _good_ lie in the first place and was their own faults for believing him. And he had given them fair warning after all; Law wasn't going to let them leave if he had anything to say about it, they had already gotten their chance to clear out.

_Your warnings of my abilities are going to be of little use Smoker-ya. After all, I am much more powerful than I was. _Law thought at the other man's shout.

Law drew his nodachi feeling a smile draw it's way across his face as he watched the marine's ship rise up with broken bits of ice. He had been forced to grab and manipulate the ice in the water not the ship itself thanks to the sea-stone hull but that made the feat all the more impressive looking.

_Perhaps…I can work this all to my advantage._ Law thought finally able to get some of his stray ideas into order, the lull granted by his blatant use of his devil fruit abilities was paying off.

Well partially. Smoker looked like he was going to blow off his top. And considering he was made out of _smoke_ that might happen a bit more literally then generally intended by the idiom.

_Oh dear, I seem to have pissed him off. Whatever shall I do?_ Law huffed a light laugh casting his eyes over his shoulder remembering the other group who he could feel still close enough to catch thanks to Haki. _Hmmm, I can't let the Straw Hat's get away either as they are a variable I can't account for yet, they had the samurai's head with them also. Plus…that bitchy red head deserves some comeuppance._

Holding multiple rooms was not impossible these days, nor did he have to remain in one place to keep the room stable. He had gotten quite a bit better with his power over the last two years out of necessity. His rooms were bigger, could be held for much longer, not to mention the ability to hold several inside of each other or radiating outward from himself, and most importantly he didn't have to stay stationary any longer. The last improved his ability to fight and removed one of his weakness caused from using his powers.

"**Room**!"

He cast out the second room behind him and stabbed four times in quick succession with his nodachi, aiming unerringly at his targets guided by his mastery of the room and Haki.

_And now let the games begin. _Law raised his left hand.

"**Shambles**!"

He twisted his fingers switching around personalities and memories in a game of pseudo roulette.

_This should slow them down. It will also be quite amusing in the long run. And it is not permanently damaging leaving my options open, a perfect solution to a less then ideal situation._

Deed done he turned his attention back to his first room wondering why Smoker had let him go off on a tangent. To remind the marine who he was dealing with Law twisted his first two fingers and thumb on his left hand making the ship and ice dance in the air freaking out the G-5 peons.

_That_ got Smokers attention. Against all expectation he treated Law with a modicum of respect and restraint, obviously knowing acting against one of the Governments "Tamed Pirates" was not wise without good cause. That and that he was still in Law's dominion. Smoker must have had a suspicion at just how dangerous Law could be if he so desired, even if Smoker's crew did not.

Come to think of it, their demands were rather annoying.

_Well since you asked so nicely. Of __**course**__ you can have your ship back._ Law thought with a dark thrill running though him at the prospect of what he was going to do.

The crew was delighted by his verbal assent and he was quick to crush their hopes. With a single slash imbued with Haki he cut the ship in two and then yanked on the pieces now "marked" by his "influence" with his free hand forcing it and ice to start smashing up the area.

_You should have been more specific with your request. _Law's smile grew as he watched the dregs of the marines run around like headless chickens, all the while begging to be let go. _Oh no, that will not do. You didn't leave when I gave you the chance, now I will find a way to make you useful. Whether you like it or not._

He spun his fingers manipulating pathways of energy only he could perceive and started to form an abstract sculpture that was in no way able to sail out from the island.

_I think I shall call it, Specificity: A Study in Ice and Word-choice._

The G-5 marines were bitterly complaining that he broke his contract with the government by attacking them.

_Breaking a contract with the Marines….hmm pirate anyone?_ He thought with a huff. _Gods, what morons are they allowing into the hypocritical justice club these days?_

He noted a few going for their pockets muttering about reporting him. Had they forgotten that they were helpless in his room? In his space?

_I won't allow it._

He spun his long sword with ease until it was pointed down and placed his hand behind the blade grabbing at the node of energy that collected there with his fingers.

"**Scan!"** He barked moving the sword laterally and then quickly clenching his fingers around a large number of similar threads of energy before hauling them backward.

There was a clatter as the newly formed pile of mini den den mushi settled behind him. Law stifled a laugh as the peons frantically checked their clothing finding they were missing their communicators.

_Look at them squirm….hmhmhm._

Raising his voice he calmly informed them that not only would they not be leaving, but also he was going to effectively strand them here without hope of reinforcement. In affect, they would not be looked for as Punk Hazard was off limits, not that G-5 was on the top of anyone's list of assets anyhow.

Finally he had managed to push Smoker over the line and the Logia user charged yelling out Law's power and devil fruit with a snarl.

_Modification Man? Really? I think I prefer Surgeon of Death. Modification makes me sound like I am doing cosmetic surgery for the Nobles._ That thought was quite repugnant forcing his mouth into a light sneer. _I think not._

Law twisted to his left and blocked the jitte easily. Without pause he turned the parry into a long side slash that missed Smoker but did not miss anything behind him. Including the lesser marines.

Smoker's warning after the counterattack came too late. Law had the ability to create _very_ large rooms now after all and the damage already done. There was no way to get away in time before he would manage to crush them or cut them to pieces. Smoker explaining that the room was essentially his _operating_ room was quite accurate even if missing in more than a few details and nuances.

_Oh Smoker-ya, you flatterer you. _Law smiled broadly at the marine using his favored epithet looking up at the carnage just waiting to incur. _In my operating room, I am a __**GOD**__. _

The woman yelling his name as she charged was one of the more pathetic things he had seen as of late. Smoker obviously thought so too, attempting to call her back due to her Haki control being too weak.

_I would worry more for her personality and constitution if I were you, she is good enough with a blade, I suppose. She at least knows the sharp end from the blunt. However..._ Law thought resting the back of his sword against his shoulder watching her jump in an easily avoidable strike.

At the last instant he ducked and slashed through her. He didn't need to turn back to see here land as he knew he had neatly bifurcated her torso. The tip of her sword flew by his face and hit the snow tip first.

_…All the skill in the world will not save you if your mind and soul will not back it up._ _What will you do now Smoker-ya?_

Law huffed a laugh smirking at her foolishness and at the shocked faces of the G-5 marines. Their exclamations of dismay were rather humorous, though he could not understand their admiration for the female captain.

_Comic relief might very well be the reason Smoker keeps them around. Gods know it isn't for their skills…of course that hypothesis implies that Smoker has a sense of humor under all that crag. _Law thought. _As for their good favor of the woman… I would have to imagine that it is more due to not seeing a female for far too long. She's not even all that attractive and she has that annoying propensity toward __**weakness**__._

Muttering from his back caused Law to glance over his shoulder at the half a woman. Her face was twisted into part fury, part embarrassment. He huffed in disgust at her blatant display of weakness, his breath condensing into a cloud in from of his face.

He sneered back at her telling her quite plainly that she could not pick her way of dying, as she was weak. The simple fact was the weak were destined to be the prey of the strong. Her reaction was to get angrier her hand clutching at the snow.

_Hmm, is there a tiger under all that pussycat? Or is she just a half blind weakling swinging around a hunk of sharpened metal? A pampered kitten playing at being an alley cat perhaps?_

One way or the other she pushed off the ground attempting to slash at him with her broken sword.

_Well that was disappointing…not that I was expecting anything more._ He thought as she fell short crashing into the ground face first.

He offered to cut her up more to see how she would react to the threat, a last chance to see if there was anything of worth hidden in the marine. She didn't rise to the occasion.

Law raised his sword, debating on making it a killing strike to put her out of her and most importantly, _his_ misery. Law barely registered the yells of the lesser marines, the bullets however, he noticed.

Law lazily flicked out his hand twitching his fingers and pulling around the invisible threads of energy until the bullets had switched with the snow falling over the marines. The great thing about his power was that objects retained their initial inertia if he desired, so if a bullet was fired at him if he switched it somewhere else it was still firing at the same speed. Of course, he could affect inertia and switch that around and not the object itself but in this case he chose the former.

He told them plainly the simplest version of what he had done in response to their exclamations. He did not expand on his abilities, as there was no reason to let _anyone_ in on the actual secrets of his powers. After all, if everyone only thought he could _switch_ things they wouldn't realize that was merely the tip of the preverbal iceberg.

_Idiots._

Law raised his sword again to finish what he had begun but Smoker blocked his downswing.

_Darn it. So you have finally decided to join the fun?_ Law's lips tightened. _And __**now**__ you address me directly._

Smoker phased into smoke spinning around Laws back and suddenly Law felt a hand around his neck before he was smashed backward into the snow. The jitte coming for his face followed only an instant later.

_Son of a bitch! _He swore simultaneously switching with a piece of ship hearing it explode into fragments when Smoker hit it.

The eerie feeling from the weapon registered into Law's mind.

_Good thing I got away, loosing powers right now would not be in my best interests._ Law took careful slow breaths so not to pass out from his injured throat so he wouldn't choke on air and pass out. _Darn Seastone! And with him being a Logia there is no way I can touch the thing unless he lets go and I have long enough to snag it using the snow. A shame, getting a hold of that jitte would make this much easier to win._

He called Smoker out on his Seastone weapon and was soon forced to block a number of attacks by the Vice-Admiral. Law empowered his swings with Haki, so even if Smoker blocked or dodged, part or all of his attack was sundering the battle field and any unlucky peon that got in the way. Finally he forced Smoker to some distance away with a heavy shove on his blade.

_Time to up the game a bit._ Law thought as Smoker ordered him to get out of the way. _Neither you, nor anyone else has the right to tell me what to do._

Raising his left hand he held his sword ready in the other waiting for Smoker to make his move. It came a moment later as a horizontal column of smoke attached to a fist shot right at Law. In response he twirled his fingers tossing around shrapnel at and in-between him and his attacker. Law was again forced to block the jitte as it came for his face.

_Darn Logia! I can hurt him with Haki but his abilities give him an edge against my own. I will have to catch him off guard somehow._

Law jumped upwards before switching his body out with snow effectively teleporting upward fartherout of the way of another punch striking at the ship cutting it further and tossing the pieces at Smoker hoping the Seastone hull would deter the marine. He then teleported down to the ground and without pause started into a fast sprint to put some distance between himself and the marine again. Smoker kept up with him again questioning Law as to his purpose on Punk Hazard and why he was even a Shichibukai in the first place.

_I won't be the one to tell you._ Law thought. _You can wait to see the endgame like everyone else._

Another jump-teleport escape brought him to the sky and he yanked another block of ship at Smoker but it was a failed attempt as smoke fists still followed Law along with the very dangerous jitte. He flipped backwards landing on the ground again and was forced into another series of exchanged blows as Smoker followed him close behind.

_Smoker is more inclined to dodge what I toss at him than not. Now how do I work with that…_ Law thought, his mind furiously working on a strategy.

A particularly intense strike forced Smoker away; both fighters were painting from the exchange. Smoker grunted out a complaint.

Law verbally agreed though didn't expand on his reply.

_That is actually wise of you. You __**shouldn't**__ trust the Shichibukai, I can think of at least one other who is only in the position because he is playing you all like fools._ Law smiled at the thought watching the marine begin to circle around from under the rim of his hat. _Hmmm…what can hurt even a man of smoke? Ah! Lets go to the __**heart**__ of the issue._

Law knew he had to be careful and take the chance as soon as it presented itself otherwise he would likely not get a second. Hooking the signature of the cut up ground just below Smoker with his left index finger he flicked it upward forcing the ice to be replaced by a spire of rock. Smoker turned to smoke and charged. Law repeated the action multiple times seeing Smoker still preferring to dodge the rocks rather than destroy them unless he had no choice.

_Sneaky. _

As the marine drew close Law managed to impale him, and if he truly wanted the marine vice-admiral dead this would have been the moment. All he would have had to do was use a piece of Seastone coated ship hull not rock and the infamous White Chase would have just died at the hands of Trafalgar Law. Little did the man know that Law had just decided to leave him alive, at least, for the moment. Smoker glared at him, again demanding an explanation. He obviously seemed to think Law was not acting on his own.

_And he is not entirely wrong, he must not be a complete meathead…but why hasn't he evaporated? Ah, I see. Well nothing wrong in letting him think he's won at the moment._ Law thought forcing his expression into one of disgruntled confusion.

Even knowing the attack was coming he still had to fight to block Smokers feet coming from his side due to the force packed into the strike. Smoker picked up his jitte again and in a flurry of blows Law demanded that if Smoker wanted answers he should answer his own question first. Finally, Law managed to push the marine back and switched a spike to separate them. Law wedged his sword into the ground and curled the fingers of his right hand funneling energy into the tips sharpening them and readying himself to attack from a half crouch.

_Take the bait Smoker-ya. You may attempt to be sneaky but that was a learned trait, in reality you are all bluster and bluntness._

Law's wish was granted as Smoker crashed through the top of the rock overshooting Law. He couldn't resist giving Smoker an oblique confession of why he was working for the government disguised as a mocking observation of their current standoff. He twisted his body striking out through the remainder of the spire and right through into Smokers chest. Rock, flesh, and bone gave away to his hand like air.

"**MES!**" Law ordered smiling maliciously when he felt his success.

_Got you._ Law teleported the small blocky room holding the marines heart to his hand in place of snow.

Smoker dropped to his knees as Law turned and pulled his sword from the ground. In his left hand Smoker's heart was beating the pulse fluttering against his palm.

_A Vice-Admirals heart? Just what I always wanted! Why you shouldn't have Smoker-dear._

Watching the defeated Vice-Admiral take a nosedive into the snow Law looked down on him. Fight concluded, Law was now left with the decision whether to crush the heart or not. He was aware the lower marines had ran off and out of his room while he had been occupied with Smoker, but he was not concerned with them at the moment. He had destroyed the _den den mushi_ with his chaotic slashes and their ship was so much rubble thanks to their own leader. This was Law's chance to change his mind and kill the marine before he got around to causing more trouble.

An observation caught Law's attention, forcing a flicker of amusement and stilled his hand.

_All that fighting with copious amounts of evasion evasion and it takes a heart removal to make him loose hold of his cigars. That is a 100 a day addiction conviction if I ever saw it. _Law scoffed his fingers caressing the edges of the tiny room in his hands. _His lungs must look like hunks of black coral._

Confident that there was no one else of any significant skill, Law let the largest room fade as he turned to return to the laboratory. Now that the distraction was dealt with, he had a plan to begin implementing. He pocketed Smokers heart putting it in a different pocket than where he had Monet's.

_Hmm. Now I have two hearts, though neither is the one I really desire. Though, Smoker's could be useful in the long run._

It was not to be as a voice he recognized hailed him. He stopped at the call and looked to his right to the sight of none other than Monkey D. Luffy riding atop Brownbeard with the missing members of his crew.

Unconsciously he mumbled the other captains name under his breath, only half believing that the other chose _now _of all times to show up.

_From now on, expect the most unlikely things to happen when Straw Hat-ya is nearby._

A moment later the owner of the voice himself ran over his expression more joyous than the last time they met. Luffy instantly professed his surprise at seeing Law and thanking him cheerfully for his help before switching thoughts in a flash to ask where Law's crew was.

_What a strange magical world the inside of your head must be…are those? Why yes, they __**are**__ the Wano samurai's legs. Amazing how his parts seem to have gotten around today._ Law thought seeing the extra legs attached awkwardly to his younger rivals back.

For a moment Law was unwillingly drawn into the past. Memories of Marineford and Amazon Lily came to mind. Yells to bring Luffy aboard his ship for escape and treatment, hearing Luffy's heart shatter as he realized his brother was dead, speaking to the Pirate Kings first mate with his crew as Luffy prepared to depart from his care.

He blinked out of the reminiscence and tipped his head slightly before admitting that he had done it all on a whim and reminding the younger man that they were still pirates and that fact shouldn't be forgotten.

_If you repay your debt anyhow of your own violation however, who am I to argue?_

Luffy wasn't phased by Law's dismissal and laughed him off agreeing that they were rivals for the prize at the end of the Grand Line but that he still owed people for his current good health after the disaster two years previous.

Brownbeard attempted to attract his attention but was ignored in favor of looking over to the marines.

_Are they really stupid enough to run back into my midst? Don't they realize I can easily trap them in a room again? Of course, whatever am I thinking, this __**is **__G-5._

Luffy noticed the marines too and seemed to recognize the woman who G-5 had managed to reassemble. She had gone strait for Smoker and was visibly alarmed as she turned him over and saw the rather conspicuous square hole in his chest.

_Oh hell, here comes the waterworks._ Law internally cringed in disgust._ I am leaning toward lover or father-like mentor. Ugh, I can't decide what is worse._

He was proven correct as she began to scream at him hysterically and again try to charge him with her broken sword.

_Because that worked __**so**__ well last time._ Law thought observing her approach. _Well one thing to her credit I suppose…she __**is**__ persistent._

He half-heartedly attempted to dissuade her and annoyed that she hadn't learned her lesson before, decided to take up his manipulation of events to the next level.

Holding out his left hand he calmly let the energy spiral out.

"**Room.**" Following this he made a quick two stabs and a slash.

"**Shambles.**" He ordered switching around the personalities of Smoker and his subordinate before he let the room fade again.

_I need to conserve energy…I still have a lot yet to get done. _He thought felling his energy drop noticeably.

Huffing, he chastised the fallen woman for being so serious._ Its not like I have killed him. Yet._ He thought returning his sword to its sheath and resting it against his shoulder. _Of course, his life is quite literally in my hands at this moment. You would do well to realize that._

The lesser marines charged, anger overriding their common sense. That is if they had it in the first place.

The Straw Hat's sniper noticed the marines and yelled to his captain in an attempt to warn him of the danger.

_Awfully jumpy for a bounty head…of course he could just be a coward. Hmm, I had forgotten that nose, another point for Straw Hat-ya collecting mutants._

Luffy ignored the marines and addressed Law telling the elder pirate that he had a question.

Law cut him off, knowing that this was not the place for a talk between the two of them and directed Luffy to the back entrance with the half promise that they would meet up again. He ended the conversation with his comment about loss and goals.

_He does owe me. It also seems to want to claim that debt on his own…and he is quite the wild card. I could use that…perhaps we can come to an agreement in the future. _Law thought. _But first, I need to see how Caesar reacts to the new developments._

Luffy took off in a bouncy run and Law turned to return inside. The marines ignored Law in favor of Luffy, directing their guns at the rubber man. Once inside the Lab, Law pulled the heavy metal door shut closing out the sounds of battle.

* * *

**-Several things explored here in a long AN**

-**First**: Why in the ever-loving hell did Law use the "vacation home" excuse not once but _twice?_ I can't rightly say I know as the guy is supposed to be incredibly intelligent and this seems like the dumbest diversion _ever_. So that leaves: A, he didn't give a Darn so didn't bother to come up with a real excuse; B, he was off balance enough from juggling various things that he couldn't think up something; C, he has a **low** opinion of G-5 marines and decided to see how easily he could mock their intelligence. I decided to play middle field and attempt to do a little of all the above.

-**Second**: The fight with Smoker could have ended a lot quicker with Law a lot less beat up. How might you ask? Two ways. First: Law steeling the Jitte with "scan" or cutting off Smokers hand with Haki and promptly beating the crap out of Smoker with his own seastone weapon (He had _plenty _of opportunities to do so). Issues with this? My theory is Law can't affect seastone directly in his room _unless_ he is affecting something it is attached to and that object has been "marked" by him via his cutting ability. Thus why Law could manipulate the coated ship (by using Tact on the wood parts of the ship, ice around the ship, or water at first. Secondly after cutting it, it was marked and thus able to be manipulated by Shambles) but not the jitte. The jitte never being marked or never touching the ground for long enough for Law to manipulate. Second way Smoker could have been beat: when Law is impaling Smoker with rocks he had to have been aware that they would do jack squat against a Logia user—in fact he seems to be using them to ultimately herd Smoker into loosing his heart. If he had switched out those areas with _seastone coated ship hull _(I am assuming the marines didn't totally screw over G-5 by not allowing them the good ships or Smoker could have kept his initial ship from the series)instead Smoker would have been rather horrifically **dead**.

So in short why didn't Law kill Smoker and be done with it? Answer: he needs the man alive for some reason.

**The Debt**: I fudge cannon a bit as I am making a large physiological assumption on Law's behalf. Law does say that Luffy owes him nothing for the rescue and subsequent medical care…this seems a bit out of character for Law. He seems to have some sort of skewed honor code as he lets praise fall where it is due. So why say there was nothing owed when there **_is_** a debt there? My thought is that he is manipulating the situation that _Luffy_ feels that he owes Law rather than _Law_ forcing action from Luffy and therefore possible resentment. It's about schematics.

**Law is ****_religious_****?** Actually no, he isn't. He is a doctor with a bit of a complex and had in all likelihood a crapstick life…case and point his issues with DD and Vergo. Aside from the fact that we don't see much canon religion this sort of childhood isn't very fertile to result in a religious adult. This is more a _habit_ of speech rather than actual feeling. It is in my mind a possible common oath that one would pick up like slang. the reason it is "gods" not "god" is all the Great weapons are named for gods, plural. I think this is even mentioned as explicitly being named for gods—thus OP is possibly polytheistic or was at some point. Now assuming there is a lot of different beliefs going on in the world then depending on where you are Gods could be either respectful or very much not. I am assuming that it would be something he picked up from growing up more than anything. For Law it's an oath without any real meaning behind it.


	5. Sashimi

**Disclaimer**—One Piece and all associated characters ect belongs to Eiichiro Oda not me I just enjoy reading/watching it. Spoken dialogue belongs to him if it seems very familiar.

I was writing another 1000th way and made an offhand comment that spawned this idea.

Warning: Animal cruelty is partially unintentional and part cultural.

**AKA: One Of The Times When Law Used His Powers For Dubious Ends**

* * *

**Sashimi**

It would never be said that Trafalgar Law had a healthy sense of humor. In fact, his crew would quite _adamantly_ argue that he didn't have a humorous bone in his body. At which point they would angrily cut off anyone that pointed out that Law did, in fact, have two humerus's. They were the Heart Pirates and _damn it, that joke stopped being funny the moment their captain found out about it and if you are so funny why don't you see was Law-sencho thinks of your joke Mr. Funny guy? Or you can ask Orvis here…but good luck with that 'cuz Orvis still hasn't said anything since he was stupid enough to say the same thing you did in front of Law-sencho._

That all being said, Law did indeed have a sense of humor, and he was known to exercise it on rare occasion when the mood hit him.

It was just _extremely_ skewed.

And dark. One could not forget it was _dark._

His crew, or at least the most senior members of his crew, had found this out a week or so after Law had figured out what his newly obtained Devil Fruit power could do—and that particular incident was an adventure in its own right.

Law had been experimenting daily with his newly named _rooms_ and the extent of what he could do in one. When he discovered cutting objects resulted in influence able pieces that he could manipulate and arrange in whatever way he desired, he immediately got the urge to try the _operation _on something more…_interesting_. He was debating on what exactly he could try but a chime from his clock reminded him that it was time to start dinner, as it was his turn to cook.

_I need to find a chef._ He thought with distaste. _At least we have supplies and won't have to resort to odds and ends again._

He rose from his desk pleasantly surprised that he was not completely exhausted from today's practice with his devil fruit abilities, it was tangible evidence that he was gaining endurance and stamina. Soon he would be creating rooms that would be of actual use rather than a sort of idle plaything. Not that he couldn't think of uses for small rooms, especially if he was unable to make them as expansive as he had calculated with his limited data.

_Always have congruency plans._ Law thought as he walked down the hallway absently noting a leaking pipe that he would have to get fixed. _We need an actual mechanic also. Hopefully on the next island we will find someone of worth._

In the galley, Law looked around for inspiration and found none among the bags of dry goods and clumps of vegetables. One thing he was sure of what that he wasn't in the mood to deal with even the smell of bread much less the sight of it. The only thing that kept him from tossing the now offensive substance of his submarine was the fact that the rest of the crew not only could eat it, but it was a very good staple food for them. Law wasn't going to force his crew to suffer in that manner because of his newfound weakness; in fact he would overcome that weakness and make it nothing more than a footnote. However, he wasn't going deal with bread if he didn't have to—and tonight he was not willing to subject himself to it. It would ruin his uncharacteristically amiable mood.

His contemplation was interrupted by an excited shout edged by a deep rumble that instantly identified its owner. Law was proven correct as Bepo barged into the galley a handful of seconds later. The bear-man was nearly dancing while tightly holding something in his arms. His large form was astonishingly graceful as he jumped about, hinting at his extensive fighting expertise. Law blinked, leaning back against the metal counter he observed for a few minutes before interrupting his friend.

"Bepo."

The soft-spoken address was more than enough to cause Bepo to pause and look at Law with a sharp-toothed smile.

"Law-sencho! Look! Look!" He crowed holding out his arms so Law could see what the bear-man was holding.

It was a rather large fish, a red snapper from the look of the beaked mouth. It was still very much alive, though pinned by Bepo's paws so that it could barely wiggle. Its large red head was gasping for air and its gills pumping but unable to unclump enough to gather oxygen effectively from the air.

"I caught it! Can we keep it?" Bepo asked almost shivering in excitement at his achievement.

Law stared at the fish for a long moment before a slow smile oozed across his face.

"Yes. Why don't you leave it for me and I will prepare it for dinner. How does sashimi sound?"

Bepo nodded happily always glad to have meat as a main attraction and gladly gave the fish to Law.

"Now, go see what the new boys are up to." Law said referring to the newly found navigator and helmsmen.

Once Bepo had left Law returned his attention to the fish. It was attempting to struggle but found Law a worthy opponent.

"Hmph."

* * *

With his crew of five settled at the table Law entered the mess balancing the sashimi expertly on his splayed hand and a large pot of rice in the other. The table already had a bowl of sliced fruit and various dipping sauces.

Law set his burden down and with a flourish removed the top from the sashimi dish.

"Red snapper." He intoned.

Law had cut the fish into methodically thin strips, making the fish resemble a flower with the head serving as a center and the fins as leaves around the petals formed of body meat. The whole presentation was actually quite professional looking.

No one would say Law didn't know his way around a knife.

"Wow! That looks great." Paco the new navigator praised.

"Yeah, good luck tomorrow Paco, you have dinner shift." Ushimaru, the helmsman, joked slyly. "You have to make a decent showing."

"Ahh, as long as no one gets food poisoning and it is edible who cares? Getting your stomach pumped sucks!" Shachi grumbled and then brightened. "But this does look great Law-sencho!"

Law nodded taking his customary seat next to Bepo. He quietly dished himself some rice and fruit before picking up his chopsticks. However, he held off on picking at the fish. Penguin, who was always the first to dive into available food, used his chopsticks to snag a bit of fish cheek.

The snapper reacted the instant the wooden tips touched it violently jerking, its mouth opening and closing in a convulsing but silent gaping action that caused the entire head to spasm and vibrate. The rest of the fish pieces also quivered and the tail and fin flopped all in synchronous motion.

Paco and Ushimaru both jumped back wide eyed while Shachi fell of his chair with a shout loosing his hat in the process. Penguin shrieked, also attempting to scramble from his chair, his chopsticks flew out of his hands hitting Bepo in the head.

"Demon fish! _Demon fish_! Get a priest! AAHHHH~HHHh~hahhah! Its _possessed_! Back demon fish _back!_"

He hit the ground a moment later in a dead faint.

Shachi pulled himself off the floor and hesitantly poked the fish with the end of his chopstick. The fish jerked again, though less violently.

"Ikizukuri?" He asked his voice higher pitched due to his own discomfort with the situation. "I thought that was a South Blue dish."

"It is." Law agreed before he continued in an almost musing tone. "It's interesting that all the parts are still functionally connected and communicate with each other even though they are physically apart. It bares future testing."

Paco and Ushimaru both looked at their new captain with blown pupils and involuntary twitching. They knew that he was a devil fruit user, but they obviously hadn't made the connection yet.

Shachi, who had been on the crew long enough to have a better understanding of his captain and his sometimes mercurial moods, let out a breathy laugh. He got to a shaky stand and smashed his hat over his ginger hair.

"Ah, nice one Law-sencho. Can't get much fresher than this."

Law hummed noncommittally and taking a knife calmly dispatched the fish by spearing it diagonally through the gills into its still beating heart.

"Dinner is served." Law commented observing how the fish's blood only now was released from stasis and created a puddle on the plate.

_It seems that that only outside a room can a fatal blow be given._ He concluded.

Bepo, completely unaffected by events, happily snagged the head and began to chew on it whole. The bones snapped and cracked under his teeth and made the newest crewmembers flinch at the overly loud noise. But it was Law calmly picking up a sliver of fish and popping it into his mouth that made Paco finally follow Penguin to unconsciousness. To his credit, Ushimaru noted his fellow's sudden pallor and was able to assist him to the floor, preventing injury to the other man.

_Hmmm, good reflexes. He will make an excellent helmsman as I suspected._

* * *

A week later Law awoke to a high scream echoing down the metal walls of his sub. He sedately swung out of his bed and calmly walked down to the crew's cabins but changed direction as two of his crew ran by.

Penguin was alternating between hyperventilating and swearing incoherently at Shachi and chased him up onto the deck.

"That was not _funny,_ you _asshole_!" He howled as they reached the top of the submarine.

Shachi skid to a halt, as he was having trouble breathing himself, but from an entirely different reason than Penguin. He was laughing so hard that he was bent over double and gasping for air. Ushimaru and Paco were also laughing but not as hard as their Quartermaster and had followed the others up to the deck at a slower pace. Bepo had arrived just after Law and cocked his head to the side watching in confusion as Penguin sneered angrily and shaking chucked an object at Shachi's head, forcing his friend to duck the badly aimed projectile.

The object bounced and rolled to a stop with a wet squish.

"You don't go around putting _f-ing_ _fish_ _heads_ on peoples pillows you wolf-spawn ice-chucker!" Penguin snarled.

"Law-sencho?" Bepo asked.

"Hmm? Penguin just called Shachi an illegitimate son of a back alley thief as well as an imbecile." He clarified the insults.

"Oh." Bepo's voice was confused and held a note of depression.

"Don't worry about it Bepo." Law drawled knowing that Bepo remembered little to nothing of his life before the change into a polar bear and thus would not recall the North Blue insults.

"Alright! Break it up and back to your duties. Work it out on your own time, and if you injure each other, remember to show up for treatment." Law yelled.

The crew instantly jumped to attention. The haze of violence dissipated, as the crew knew that although they would be treated for illness or injury by Law's expert hands well they would have to get treated. And no matter how good Law was at medicine, no one enjoyed getting treated.

Things quickly returned to normal, albeit with a decidedly increased number of fish-related ribbing and the undisputed establishment of the honored tradition of "head-hazing". Law ignored the teasing, distracted by his successful experiment and the plans for the next.

_More experimentation required for conclusive evidence to support initial hypothesis. However, preliminary results are definitively encouraging._

* * *

-Right, so this is partly inspired by an old America's Funniest Home Video's where a group of, what I guess were college students, found themselves ordering Ikizukuri (see Wikipedia) and promptly freaking the hell out when they realized the poor fish was still alive (either someone ordered for them or they had no idea what they ordered). I have taken this a step farther as the fish is not only alive but unlike Ikizukuri is no longer in one cohesive (sliced up) piece.

-If you don't recognize the fish head in bed thing then you are more deprived of pop culture than I. Ironically I have not seen the Godfather myself…its on the list.

-I made up the North Blue insults in response to assumptions of their region. The ocean is apparently cold/arctic so their cultures are going to be influenced by snow, ice, and creatures that live there.

-Odd Science Fact of the Day: One of the most interesting tidbits of fact I learned from Vertebrate Biology is that fish actually CAN breathe in air and lungs technically can derive oxygen from water. The issue is that gills (not to be confused with gill slits of the operculum, but instead the fibrous tissue that is below them) clump due to cohesion and adhesion instead of being splayed when out of water. Think about long hair when it gets wet vs submerged. The resulting loss of surface area drastically reduced the gill filaments ability to absorb O2…and thus the fist actually suffocates while surrounded by oxygen. Similarly lungs are capable of getting oxygen from water…the issue here is that lungs work by differential pressure. The diaphragm is incapable of expelling water from the lungs once it is inhaled so the animal will drown.

-I have held off naming other Heart Pirates until some more are (hopefully) revealed but it is getting unavoidable the more I write. At this time, it is unlikely that it will happen for a while. As such, I have made up some names that I will replace as soon as they are announced. I also assume that Penguin and Shachi are primarily fighters and/or possibly serving positions that are higher on the totem pole as they have been named and been seen interacting with Law frequently. I assume one may be his Boatswain and the other his Quartermaster as those are both very important historical positions on a pirate crew and would force them to be in contact with Law frequently and personally. This means they have hidden depths, which I will be expanding on later.


End file.
